Fragments of the Bronze Age : the destruction and deposition of metalwork in South-West Britain and its wider context / Matthew G. Knight.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Knight, Matthew G., author.

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Series:

Prehistoric Society research paper ; 13.

Prehistoric Society Research Papers ; 13

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Metal-work, Prehistoric--England--West Country.

Metal-work, Prehistoric.

Bronze age--England--West Country.

Bronze age.

West Country (England)--Antiquities.

West Country (England).

Antiquities.

England--West Country.

Physical Description:

xix, 186 pages : illustrations (black and white, and color) ; 28 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxbow Books, 2021.

Summary:

The destruction and deposition of metalwork is a widely recognised phenomenon across Bronze Age Europe. Weapons were decommissioned and thrown into rivers; axes were fragmented and piled in hoards; and ornaments were crushed, contorted and placed in certain landscapes. Interpretation of this material is often considered in terms of whether such acts should be considered ritual offerings, or functional acts for storing, scrapping and recycling the metal. This book approaches this debate from a fresh perspective, by focusing on how the metalwork was destroyed and deposited as a means to understand the reasons behind the process. 0To achieve this, this study draws on experimental archaeology, as well as developing a framework for assessing what can be considered deliberate destruction. Understanding these processes not only helps us to recognise how destruction happened, but also gives us insights into the individuals involved in these practices. Through an examination of metalwork from south-west Britain, it is possible to observe the complexities involved at a localised level in the acts of destruction and deposition, as well as how they were linked to people and places. This case study is used to consider the social role of destruction and deposition more broadly in the Bronze Age, highlighting how it transformed over time and space.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Piece offerings: approaches to the destruction and deposition of Bronze Age metalwork

A peace offering and a piece offering

Destruction and deposition of Bronze Age metalwork

Research aims

South-west Britain as a regional case study for the destruction and deposition of metalwork

Terms of destruction

Outline of the volume

2. Making sense of the pieces

What is intentional damage?

Material matters

Ancient or not? The role of corrosion and patina

After deposition

Metalwork wear analysis

Experimental destruction

Categorising damage: Destruction Indicators and a Damage Ranking System

Applying the Damage Ranking System

3. Burnt, broken and buried: the Chalcolithic

Early Bronze Age, c. 2450

1500 BC

Assessing the evidence for Chalcolithic

Early Bronze Age destruction and deposition in south-west Britain

Daggers in south-west Britain

Rolled gold

Beyond breaking point

Complete and incomplete axeheads

Conclusions

4. Selective destruction: the Middle Bronze Age, c. 1500-1150 BC

Ornaments and ornament hoards

Rapiers, spearheads and places

Palstaves and palstave hoards

Destruction and deposition in occupational contexts

A biography of destruction: the South Cadbury Shield

5. Mass destruction and minor destruction: the Late Bronze Age-Earliest Iron Age, c. 1150

600 BC

Mass destruction: the Late Bronze Age c. 1150-800 BC

Late Bronze Age associated finds and hoards

Late Bronze Age single finds

Late Bronze Age occupational contexts and scatters

Late Bronze Age conclusions: networks of practice

Minor destruction: earliest Iron Age c. 800-600 BC

Earliest Iron Age token axeheads and axehead hoards in Cornwall and Dorset

The Kings Weston Down hoard, Bristol

Earliest Iron Age conclusions

6. Destruction and deposition of metalwork in south-west Britain in its wider context

Reduction and production of metalwork

Exchanging fragments

Death and destruction

Destruction close to home

Metalwork destruction and deposition in the landscape

Selection and destruction across hoards in time and space

Conclusions: interpreting destroyed metalwork and deposits of meaning

7. Final fragments

what do the pieces tell us?

Destruction and deposition of metalwork in south-west Britain

Technical knowledge, materiality and destruction

Performing destruction and deposition

Biographies of destruction

Why destroy and deposit things?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781789256970

1789256976

OCLC:

1276799009

Publisher Number:

99990375117